Page 2484 - Week 07 - Wednesday, 1 August 2018
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would have been extremely possible—indeed, just doable—to get this motion up as it was originally written and, indeed, somewhat strengthened with support from this side of the chamber.
Many times in this space and in political spaces around the country I hear people say, “I thought I had an agreement with the Greens.” Sometimes we see the Greens let people down. I think it would be extraordinary if Ms Le Couteur ratted on herself here because we have so many people who think that this is, first, a wonderful idea but, second, an idea which is not going to change the world.
We have heard about the mathematics of it. We have not heard exactly how many properties would be involved, but we know that this is really only going to apply to stand-alone houses in the inner north and inner south—old houses where the land tax component is sufficient to bring that rent down to an affordable level and for the owner of that house to finish up pretty much square. No-one is going to make money out of this, despite what Alex White might think.
It would be a bit crazy if there were all these people in the community who had echoed these thoughts in the public space, all these people who said that this is a really good idea but, at the end of the day, when push came to shove and we had to vote for something, Ms Le Couteur was not one of them. I think that would be really sad. I think that would be really sad. Ms Le Couteur did not need Labor if she really wanted to make a difference in this space and she knows it. We will not be supporting the amendment.
MADAM SPEAKER: Ms Le Couteur, are you moving your amendment to Ms Berry’s amendment?
MS LE COUTEUR (Murrumbidgee) (10.45): Yes. I move the following amendment to Ms Berry’s amendment:
Omit all text after paragraph (3)(b), substitute:
“(c) report to the Assembly with an implementation plan that includes information about cost impacts and viability of these measures, as well as detail on feedback from the community sector, community housing providers, and the real estate and property sector by the end of the October 2018 sitting period.”.
I point out one small problem that Ms Cheyne kindly pointed out to me. The mathematics are not quite right. I thought I had the first motion today but, of course, technically I did not. Mr Coe did. So it actually should be notice No 2 at the top of the amendment that was circulated to members. Nonetheless, the substance has not changed.
As Mr Parton has alluded to, there has been considerable discussion about the best way of presenting this motion because we are well aware that the housing minister is working hard on a housing affordability strategy. I suppose that part of the reason this motion has come about is because we were all hoping it would happen a little sooner.
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